Pages

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

I'm proud to show you our latest product, a 1/72 scale Catalonian frontline bookmobile on Ford AA chassis. The Catalan Government pioneered during SCW the very first proper bookmobiles service in Spain, as a way to bring leisure and culture to the Republican soldiers. It consisted of a small fleet of adapted trucks/buses, whose task had to be visiting regularly field hospitals and rearguard encampments. One such bookmobiles was built on a Ford AA van chassis - and this is the one we've reproduced in this kit.

As it can be seen above, this is a pretty light and easy to assembly model kit. Most of its parts are high quality resin, except for a few metal or hard plastic parts. Kit is complimented by a white metal female driver/librarian, whom you can watch below:

And last, kit comprises a couple of optional resin panels, so as to convert the van into a windowed ambulance. Following such purpose too, a decals sheet is included containing the markings needed for either a Catalan bookmobile, a Spanish Republican ambulance and a fictional, humouristic British bookmobile.

This new model kit is already available from Minairons Miniatures webshop, www.minairons.eu.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

The whole set will consist of 9 horsemen including officer, horn blower and standard bearer. Besides, one of the privates will be shown dismounted and horse holding. Work on them is progressing fast enough as to be reasonably sure to release the new set by late October - November as late.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

A user of The Guild forum has kindly let us know the results of his job on one our 1/100 Panzer I ausf. A, in order to convert it into a Munitionsschlepper I. We warmly greet his initiative, as well as the permission granted for showing it here:

Anyone curious at this regard can read the original thread in The Guild (it's a public subforum, so you don't need to be registered therein for reading).

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Allow me a few captions on our next SCW aircraft model: the US Navy Grumman FF-1 fighter, whose licensed GE-23 Canadian version was exported to the Spanish Republic. Here you can watch a prototype of it superbly painted by Bruce Murray:

Despite having it scheduled for release at 1/100 scale first, we're currently producing it at both 1/100 and 1/144 scales altogether, and decals are to be designed jointly too - so that we'll be able to launch any of them first, within this second half of year.

Decals are to include Spanish Republican, US Navy and British Commonwealth markings - even some Nicaraguan insignias too, perhaps.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

We are delighted to announce the release of our first entirely hard-plastic model kit of this year, the Renault FT-17 light tank - definitely the most ubiquitous armoured fighting vehicle in History for, despite being considered as obsolescent since mid 1920s, it survived in battlefields well into the 1970s!! - If unbelieving, go ask the Soviet soldiers having fought in Afghanistan, what kind of armour did they meet in Taliban hands!

Back to this our new hard-plastic model, it is the result of a co-operative work with the HäT Industrie Inc. reputed USA company, by which the model kit has been manufactured partly by them, partly by us. This way, in each of our 3-tanks box you'll find 3 sprues including hull and running gear, other 3 sprues comprising 2 alternative turrets each besides of an MG and a cannon that can be fitted on whatever the turret you choose, and last one sheet with a number of different decals for several SCW Basque, generic Communist, VBCW Anglican League and 20th cent. French markings.

As stated above, 1/72 Renault FT-17 tank is available either in 3 tanks + decals box, or single in bag (with no decals). 20GEC006 decals are separately available too. All them can be purchased at our www.minairons.eu website, or through any of our current distributors/ retailers as usual.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Sometimes, our designers are commissioned projects that lay apparently aside from our "official" pipeline and wishlist. Such is the case of the design I'm happy to present you now - the Vickers 105mm gun:

Not that aside, though. It belongs to a global project embracing several different models and figures - in a way quite similar to that other one including IGC Sadurní tank, carrier and tractor, altogether with the Schneider 155 howitzer. Besides, the fact of already having two guns (Schneider 155 and Vickers 105) will ultimately allow us to develop artillery crews for both sides - a set of figures admittedly long expected.

Following this global project concept, this new gun will be developed alongside to the Landesa tractor and a white metal driver - and released all together. The running gear we design for this tractor will be also useful for endeavouring next a Landesa improvised tank and last, the Trubia-Naval Basque tank too.

Back to our Vickers 105mm gun concept, it will consist of a pretty small number of parts - roughly, those you can see below:

This whole series will be developed in 1/72 scale first, to be re-scaled later, as usual in Minairons lately.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Besides of the recently announced Renault FT-17 tank, we hope to please all our friends with a second SCW 1/72 scale model kit - this one, a mainly resin softskin vehicle, with a couple hard plastic and white metal parts: The Ford AA Frontline Bookmobile. Here you have one of them superbly painted by Rubén Torregrosa of Heresy Brush:

Thanks to a couple side panels and the help of the accompanying optional decals, the model can otherwise be built as a Republican Ambulance:

Now, please watch both vehicles side by side:

We expect to release this new 1/72 model during September, shortly after the Renault FT-17. It will retail as a boxed single kit, along with the white metal figure you can watch in the pictures, and a decals sheet allowing you those two options above - besides of a humouristic third one, based on the ubiquitous "Keep calm &..." British WWII poster motto.